This story,
set in 19th century France, deals with the rape of a young girl and the
mysterious aftermath. A poor and (seemingly) simple-minded vagrant tricks
his way into the home of a prominent Samaritan family by pretending to
be a deaf mute. He seems to bewitch the young virginal daughter and rapes
her. After the sexual assault, he leaves. But she runs away and follows
him deep into the woods. Is the girl doing this willingly (because of
some strange Rasputin-ish power he has over her) or is there an ulterior
motive?

Loosely based on the
true story of a young bourgeois woman raped and possibly abducted by a
semi-wild vagrant in 1865, Benoit Jacquot's film focuses on whether she
went willingly or was held hypnotically.

A French
production with English subtitles; widescreen format (16:9), uncut (102
minutes), DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT; extras include
original theatrical trailer.